Naples city layout

The major neighborhoods, streets, and squares of Naples

Naples snuggles along the northern rim of the Bay of Naples. The heart of Naples is bounded by the bay to the south and hemmed in by low mountains all around (hilltops onto which the city has since spread).

Major arrival points—The main Naples train station and port

If you arrive by train or via the airport, you'll arrive at the Stazione Centrale train station in the dingiest corner of the city, Piazza Garibaldi, on the eastern edge of the center.

From here, wide Corso Umberto I runs diagonally across the center toward Piazza Municipio at the main port, Molo Beverello/Stazione Marittima, where most cruise ships and ferries (to Capri, Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast, Sicily, and other islands) leave and arrive.

Naples City Center

The historic old center of Naples is bounded by Corso Umberto on the south, Piazza Cavour on the north, Via Duomo on the east, and Via Toledo on the west.

Though its heart runs Spaccanapoli, which translates loosely as "divide Naples in half" and refers both the this historic district as a whole and specifically to the arrow-straight street that runs down its middle east-west and changes names from Via S. Biagio dei Librai to Via Benedetto Croce to Via D. Capitelli (it's actually the old Decumanus Maximus, or Main Street, of the Roman city).

Across Via Toledo to the west lies the checkerboard of the Quartiere degli Spagnoli, a grid of narrow streets laid out by the Spanish viceroys along the bottom slopes of the Vomero hill. Its tall tenements are filled with lower income housing, and while you can see some of the most genuine Naples life in this area, be extra cautious; it is also one of the strongholds of the Camorra organized crime network.

• Sights in the city center

The waterfront district

South of the Quartiere degli Spagnoli, Via Toledo spills into Piazza Plebescito, the heart of 18th century Naples, with the royal palace and world-famous Teatro San Carlo opera house, and the docks just beyond anchored by the glowering Castel dell'Ovo.

West of the center are a trio of rather nicer, middle-class residential neighborhoods starting with the headland of Santa Lucia rising above Piazza Plebescito on the seaward slope of the Vomero (see "The Hills" below).

Beyond this is the long, wide harborside park of Chiaia, with a few blocks of buildings climbing behind it up a small ridge. At the end of Chiaia are the docks and train station of the workaday zone of Mergellina.

• Sights by the waterfront

The hills

Naples is surrounded by steep, low hills, linked to the rest of the city by winding roads and funiculars (cog railways). The two most important hills for visitors to know are:

Capodimonte, to the north of the city center. Capodimonte is home to a vast park, the city's major art museum and painting gallery (Museo Capodimonte), and the Catacombs of San Gennaro.

Vomero rises to the west of the city center. Atop this steep hill perches the Certosa e Museo di San Martino and Castle Sant'Elmo, both blessed with postcard views over the city and its bay.

• Sights in the hills

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